Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Day 9 - July 8 - a "bridge (not) too far", but very far!







After leaving our Quality Inn at Edmundston - where the lovely front desk lady had permitted us to park our bikes immediately outside the front door as being the safest place - we headed off for morning sustenance at - now, wait, just guess.... Tim Hortons.
Then stopped at Wal-Mart for a few things, and onto the road.

The ride from Edmundston to Fredericton (with a stop in Carlingsford) was fine, but relatively uneventful, and the scenery, though nice, isn't bowl-you-over material.
But approaching Fredericton, "Miss Garmin" as we refer to my GPS advised that there was a Starbucks in Fredericton, adjacent to a Chapters, and only a couple of kms out of our way. As Jim said, "the siren is calling" (for any who, like me, don't know who the siren is, the reference is to the young woman of mythology who is in the centre of the logo. Anyway, the Starbucks brand of caffeine was duly appreciated and, for a brief moment at least, we felt we'd climbed up a rung of the social ladder from our usual coffee establishment of choice.
Lunch was at McCready's Motel and Restaurant in Young's Cove NB. By then, and through the balance of the afternoon it was hot ("Hot - damn hot" to use the phrase Robin Williams used to such great effect in Good Morning Viet Nam... about 34% which, with riding gear on, is hot.

We stopped in Dieppe, a suburb of Moncton at the BMW dealer (a huge store!) to look for something George wanted. Stayed for awhile to appreciate all the toys, and the A-1 air conditioning.

Then off to Confedration Bridge, about 45 muinutes away.

I'm not very keen on the expression "Way Cool", but somehow for Confederation Bridge, "Way Cool" sums it up. It runs for over 14 kms!!! From the New Brunswick shore it looks very like a Roman aquaduct or something. Riding across is a gas - you really feel like you are out in the middle of the saltchuk, suspended in mid-air somehow over the water. Yeah, yeah, I know, that is what a bridge is supposed to do, but somehow this bridge is so blinking different, it gives a different sense of the experience.

Anyway, on the other side we were welcomed into our 8th province in 9 days.

Off to the Super 8 in Charlottetown, and lobster dinner (of course we had to!) at the Charlottetown harbour.

A 653 km day. Tomorrow around PEI during the day, then the ferry to Novea Scotia in the evening, and overnight in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

3 comments:

Julie said...

Hugh, it is sounding as if the trip so far has been absolutely fabulous!!!!! Thank you for sharing your experiences along the way. It also looks like Flat Stanley is having a great time.

Henry said...

Hugh,

Thanks for keeping us up to date as you make your way across this great country called Canada. Maybe it's just the camera, but it looks like all of you are putting on weight...it must be all those Tim Horton's donuts!!!! Just kidding.

The picture at Confederation Bridge is the exact same shot taht we took a few years ago when my wife and I did our cross Canada trip.

Be safe

George's bigger brother, Henry

Keith said...

Hugh, The lobster looks delicious!
I wouldn't have thought you would see much over the high walls on the Confederation Bridge. We were in an RV when we crossed and it was very impressive, but the folks around us in regular cars looked like they were straining to see anything.
Sounds like you will be able to do most of the Cabot Trail and even the South Shore in NS and still stick to schedule.
However, if you are going as far as Gros Morne in NFLD, why not go up to L'anse aux Meadows? It was pretty incredible 20 odd years ago when we were there.
Thank you for keeping us all in the loop.